Women in Intelligence, Helen Fry
Women in Intelligence, Helen Fry
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
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Women in Intelligence
The Hidden History of Two World Wars

Author: Helen Fry

Narrator: Gemma Dawson

Unabridged: 17 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 01/30/2024


Synopsis

A groundbreaking history of women in British intelligence, revealing their pivotal role across the first half of the twentieth century

From the twentieth century onward, women took on an extraordinary range of roles in intelligence, defying the conventions of their time. Across both world wars, far from being a small part of covert operations, women ran spy networks and escape lines, parachuted behind enemy lines, and interrogated prisoners. And, back in Bletchley and Whitehall, women's vital administrative work in MI offices kept the British war engine running.

In this major, panoramic history, Helen Fry looks at the rich and varied work women undertook as civilians and in uniform. From spies in the Belgian network "La Dame Blanche," knitting coded messages into jumpers, to those who interpreted aerial images and even ran entire sections, Fry shows just how crucial women were in the intelligence mission. Filled with hitherto unknown stories, Women in Intelligence places new research on record for the first time and showcases the inspirational contributions of these remarkable women.

About Helen Fry

Historian and biographer Helen Fry is the author of The Walls Have Ears, Spymaster, MI9, and more than twenty books on intelligence, prisoners of war, and the social history of World War II. She appears regularly in media interviews and podcasts and has been involved in numerous documentaries.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jeanne on December 11, 2024

4.4 stars......more

Goodreads review by Debbie on August 22, 2023

Helen Fry's 'Women in Intelligence' is the work of years of incidental surprises and shocking discoveries made in the course of other research. It is, in essence, a compendium of the vast and complex array of roles undertaken by women working for the British secret services during the two world wars......more

Goodreads review by Chloe on June 21, 2024

this book was so good!! despite it taking me so long to read the stories were truly inspiring and i loved every story of the brave women who served their country in the world wars and some received no credit. women like Vera Akins who after the war made it her mission to find out what happened to th......more

Goodreads review by G. on February 15, 2025

What an excellent book, highlighting the often forgotten and frequently underestimated roles of women in military intelligence in WW1 and WW2. This covered women acting as agents in Churchill's Secret Army (SOE), code breakers, interrogators, active agents like Virginia Hall who was instrumental in......more

Goodreads review by Jemma on April 30, 2025

I have a growing interest in the role of women in WW2, especially in intelligence and SOE, so when a friend suggested this book, I couldn't buy it quick enough! It was fact-based and rather dry in places, but nevertheless HUGELY interesting. I learned SO MUCH. And there is still so much that is class......more